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Adventurous winner’s humble start in running

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A passion for running and travelling has taken Vincent Dussault to events in far off places, including China, Ireland and Scotland.

Dussault, a Canadian, won the Big Five Marathon in South Africa last June. The race is held on the Entabeni Game Reserve, a place where the “big five” — lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo — can be seen.

Since 2015, he and his wife, Julie-Anne Tétreault, have travelled to various regions of the world to run.

“I had always wanted to visit South Africa and I found that the Big Five Marathon would be the perfect opportunity to visit, run and meet exciting people,” he said.

“I was not expecting to win the race but in all honesty I just gave my best during the race; running in the soft sand is like running in the snow from Canada.”

His time was 3hr 40min 13sec, which gave him a nine-minute margin of victory.

At the race he met Bermuda's Andy McComb and Lisa Ferrari, who were taking part in the marathon and half-marathon, and through them he learnt about the Royal Gazette Bermuda Triangle Challenge.

“I have never been to Bermuda. I met two extraordinary people from Bermuda, Andy and Lisa. They are the reason we will be running in Bermuda.”

Dussault started running about 10 years ago, and he said it happened “almost by accident”.

“I was on a family vacation, and my brother decided to secretly — without telling me — register both himself and myself in a 5K run.

“It was the first running race of my life. The day following the race, I thought that my legs would fall off. But I fell in love with running and have been running all types of distance since.”

Among his races last year was a 2K in the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, where he finished fourth in 6:09. He has a half-marathon personal best of 1:24:12.

His proudest achievement as a runner is having never given up, even when it has meant going out in rain, hail or snow. He said running helps to keep him mentally balanced and has given him “the discipline that serves me in all the aspects of my life”.

This weekend he will be competing in the full Royal Gazette Bermuda Triangle Challenge, while his wife will be running in the BF&M 10K on Saturday.

“She has been running on a more leisure-basis since 2015. She does enjoy being outside and following me in our crazy adventures,” said Dussault. The couple have three boys who have also started to take an interest in running.

As for coming to Bermuda at a time of year when snow often blankets the ground in Canada, he said: “I am very eager to get some warm weather.”

After the race: a group of runners who competed in the Big Five Marathon and half-marathon in June, including marathon winner Vincent Dussault, third from right, and Bermuda's Lisa Ferrari and Andy McComb, centre and Lisa Ferrari (Photograph supplied)
Chilling experience: Vincent Dussault sometimes has to run through the snow during his winter training in Canada. He is looking forward to warmer weather in Bermuda this weekend (Photograph supplied)

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Published January 16, 2020 at 8:00 am (Updated January 15, 2020 at 6:43 pm)

Adventurous winner’s humble start in running

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